What's Your New Year's Yes?

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year too.

On January 1st the Catholic Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. Honestly, on this day, I’m usually reflecting on the past year and setting goals for the coming year and not thinking that much about Mary. I wonder, though, if Mary has something to tell me about how to lean into this new beginning.

I don’t often ponder what it means to be the Mother of God. That’s a name for Mary that’s a little hard for me to relate to. What does help me to relate to Mary is to think about her in the real, to consider her in the context of her life. We don’t know a lot of details about her life, but we do know she was a wife and mother who lived in an occupied country that sometimes struggled under Roman rule. Like most parents, I imagine she wanted good things for her family and maybe also had hopes and dreams of her own. She was a daughter and likely a sister and a friend. She was a member of a family and a community, so, although we have many titles for her, she was just one of many people in her social circle, and not necessarily special, although the conception and birth of her child are surrounded by stories of wonders — and maybe a few rumors too.

We’re blessed to hear her voice in Scripture a few times, unlike most of the women in the Bible. The first time we hear her speak is also the first time we meet her, when the angel Gabriel comes to visit. She responds in a reasonable way to something that’s a little outrageous. Unlike her counterpart Zechariah, she doesn’t doubt the angel, but she does ask how this will work — how she’ll be able to conceive when she’s still a virgin. That’s a fair question. And then she says yes in a whole-hearted way to this request from God that not only upends the course of human history, but upends her personal life too.

We don’t know much about Mary’s personality, but she’s often described as being gentle, meek, and mild. If you really think about it, though, the qualities of meek and mild are not what one needs to respond to God in the way that she did. In order to do that, she needed to have deep faith and trust. I think she had to be bold and a little fierce and very courageous. Maybe even a little gritty. Mary’s in the good company of people whom God has called throughout history to do outrageous things. The people whom God calls are usually bold, tenacious, a little outside the norm. The people whom God chooses as messengers and prophets tend to color outside the lines. They often exist outside the lines too. Maybe that helps them to say yes when God comes calling.

The Gospel reading we get today is the nativity story from Luke, and we hear how Mary ponders all of the events surrounding the birth of her son in her heart. What a beautiful, contemplative stance to all that has unfolded. That, too, seems like a reasonable response to the events that God has set into motion throughout her life.

I also can’t help but to think of the Magnificat on this feast. That’s the beautiful song Mary sings in response to Elizabeth’s greeting, to Elizabeth’s own prophetic utterance when Mary visits her. Mary sings, “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit has rejoiced in God my savior. For God’s regard has blessed me, poor, and a serving woman.” She goes on to proclaim God’s greatness and all the ways that God has toppled the powerful and uplifted the marginalized. Mary sings in both the past tense, all that God has done for people, and also in the present tense, all that God is now doing for humanity and creation as this tiny spark of life ignites a group of cells that multiplies and grows into an infant savior of the world. I can’t imagine that this song is hummed quietly, meekly. This is a song to be sung with full voice, and I bet that’s how she sings it.

What does it mean to be the Mother of God? I have no idea, and I don’t know if Mary did either, at least, not when she was raising her son and living her life. But I do know that the Creator of the Universe asked for her consent before going ahead with the plan God conceived, and she was audacious enough to give that consent. And God is calling forth a courageous yes in us too.

On this day, which is so often a time of making resolutions, there’s an invitation to consider God’s call for us too — because Mary of Nazareth is not the last person God called to do a thing. God has continued to call people throughout history to bring about the work of salvation, and God is calling us to be part of that great work too. God is calling us to bring about God’s kingdom which upends corrupt power and uplifts the vulnerable. We are part of this great body, this community of saints called to bring about God’s reign, which looks more like a circle than a hierarchical line.

How do you resolve to do this? What’s God‘s call for you, and how will you respond? What’s your courageous yes as you start this new year?

For Reflection:

• What does the reign of God look like to you?

• What needs to happen in our day to make our world look more like the reign of God?

• When you think about Mary — her life, what she says, what she does — who is Mary for you?

• What is God’s invitation for you right now? Is there anything you need to leave behind from this past year? Is there anything that God is calling you to say yes to in the coming year?

Listen to the Podcast version of this reflection here, and watch the video version here.

By Sister Leslie Keener, CDP

Sister Leslie Keener, CDP is the director of God Space, a community-building spirituality ministry in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. She’s a Sister of Divine Providence with a Masters in Ministry and a Certificate in Spiritual Direction and Retreats from Creighton University. She directs retreats, meets with people for spiritual direction, and serves as the vocation director for her community. She also serves on the Coordinating Council of Spiritual Directors International. She enjoys music, meaningful conversations, dancing, and babies, of course. Who doesn’t like babies?